How do you UL ?

I don’t own Bruce’s UL Low Rise Cot… but I don’t sleep well when backpacking and I keep thinking about getting one. The newest design is 26 oz. Crazy amount of weight for your “pad”, I know… but if I can get the rest of my “big 3” down to a 2 pounds… I may go for it some day. At least I’d save an ounce by not having to carry a ground sheet… LOL. The way I figure though… saving 0.75 pounds (minus the weight of a super thin pad for insulation in the fall) over my ThermaRest ProLite 3/4 is worthless if the net result is that I’m up more than half the night. In the end, what we do is more about efficiency than weight… weight is just the end result of being ultra efficient. And how efficient am I hiking a 20 mile day on 4 hours of sleep?

BTW… I wonder how Bruce fared with Hurricane Rita?!?! He was pretty darn close to “ground zero”.

David, I too have thought about purchasing the cot too. I have tought about the weight trade off as well as the price of possibly getting a good nights sleep. I too don’t sleep well in the backcountry due to aches and such, and new surroundings, etc. I tried a Insul Mat inflatible pad this year and slept like a baby!! 18 oz. and it fits nicely in my Mariposa. Even at 18 oz. I do know that this is on the heavy side, but a good nights sleep makes for one strong hiker the next day.

I used to take a 3 legged Roll-A-Stool by Camp Time. (14.2 oz.) Look, I’m getting old and the knees don’t work like they used to. But I did trim some of the aluminum tubing to lighten it up and made a seat from kite fabric so it weighs in at about 10 oz. This last summer I used the kite fabric and some 0.5 OD graphite kite spars to build a 5 oz. stool, but although it worked, I never felt very secure sitting on it. Like it was going to collapse at any moment. (Kind of negating the usefullness of the thing.) I now have some 0.75 OD kite spar which I think I can use to build a 7 oz. stool. We’ll see how that goes.

As for pillows–I’ve found that folding up my MicroPuff jacket and putting in inside my Buff (search on “Buff headwear” if you aren’t familiar with this essential piece of lightweight gear) makes a great pillow. No extra weight so then I can take my stool.
-Mark

Hey you don’t have to justify and rationalize it Mark. On occasion I take a Roll-A-Stool too. It’s a nice piece of kit, and I never really regret packing it. One of the great things about achieving a nice low base pack weight is that you can take the odd luxury or comfort item and not feel bad about it. This thing makes sitting around the stove a lot more pleasant on a cold, damp, muddy day.

Cheers

Thanks Duane, you’re right, it’s nice to take a dry place to sit with you, especally on the muckier days. When I took the stool the first time, my friends gave me grief about it, but I noticed that around camp it was always occupied. Funny thing, now everyone of my usual hiking partners has one.

By the way, anyone looking for light weight graphite or fiberglass tubing and super light fabric might check out kitebuilder.com for supplies. ( no, I’m not affiliated with them in any way, just a customer)
-Mark

One of the few luxeries i won’t leave at home is a wee bottle of fine single malt Scotch.

Eins

I have a few luxury items I stash in the pack or carry with me when I hit the trail:

1). A few good cigars
2). My Garmin GPSMAP 60CS
3). My old Casio digital camera – a bit heavier than most if not all the new ones but takes great pics
4). My trusty old Thermarest 3/4 Ultralite

Based on most of the previous threads I need to get myself a pillow too!

>fine single malt Scotch.

My brother carries a glass/metal/leather flask that probably weighs a pound full of good single malt. (He’s carrying it and he shares, so I don’t complain :)

As for me, I spent the extra $ for Everclear-brand ethyl alcohol: stove fuel, disinfectant, and…well, just don’t drink it straight! At 190 proof, a little goes a long way.

A kite!!!

1) The Chocolate Moose rides in my back pocket, looking out.

2) Reading material – usually poetry because it’s like freeze-dried literature – packs light, reads heavy.

Ryan,

I had the same thought! I gotta do something with my leftover silnylon…

Ben

Kite Made From Cuben Fiber

I need to design a piece of gear that uses Cuben Fiber and be made to also turn into a Kite.

I’ve thought of inflatable pillows, but never tried them. I’ve used clothes stuffed in a stuffsack, boots, waterbottle etc. The best was my down sweater in the right size stuff sack then I UL’d and left the sweater at home. If I’m cold I just get in the sleeping bag. My current pillow is strip of foam cut from an old Ridgerest foam pad, rolled up, and slide in the appropriate sized stuff sack. I also use the pad to sit on rock and logs around camp. Makes pants last longer on the rough granite in the Sierras. Works really well and only adds 3 oz.